MilePost201009

The Magazine of the West Riding Branch September 2010

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Contents Musings from the Grand Union …..........................................................3 Branch Publicity Stand ...........................................................................4 50 Years Ago...........................................................................................5 The Mile Post...........................................................................................8 Nursery Rhymes Quiz.............................................................................9 Partial Closure of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.................................11 The 2010 Festival at Beale Park............................................................12 ‘A Warm Welcome!’.............................................................................13 Quiz Answers........................................................................................13 Map showing location of meeting venue...............................................14 Committee Members 2010 / 2011.........................................................15 Programme of Events for 2010/11.........................................................16

IWA Headquarters .

Registered Office The Inland Waterways Association Island House Moor Road CHESHAM HP5 1WA Telephone - 01494 783453 Web site www.waterways.org.uk NOTE: The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of The Inland Waterways Association or of The West Riding Branch. They are, however, published as being of interest to our members and readers.

Front cover.

One of the empty reservoirs which usually feed the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. This one is at Foulridge. See page 11 2

Musings from the Grand Union ‌ ‌ as we head north from the National Rally at Beale Park: it will surely be an interesting autumn and winter for the Waterways. At the end of it, the funding regime might look very different to that of the previous Government. British Waterways may find its enthusiasm for the Third Sector much closer to fruition than it outlined in its '2020 vision' document and the Environment Agency navigations may find themselves inside a single structure that is quite close to a 'Waterways Conservancy' that Robert Aickman first advocated in an IWA policy document fifty years ago.

Clive Henderson, IWA National Chairman (meet him at Branch Meeting on 12th November) has been appointed as observer to the board of British Waterways, and that would have been an extraordinary development only a year or two ago. Tony Hales, BW Chairman, attended our Beale Park opening, and afterwards walked around the site chatting to exhibitors and waterway societies: at our West Riding stall, he told us that the announcement of Clive's appointment and the abolition of IWAC (Inland Waterways Advisory Council chaired by John Edmonds) just happened to be at the same time and not news management by the DEFRA (Department of Food and Rural Affairs).

We are all sensitive to signs of waterway future-funding, and how we can get the best out of it: IWA were keen to let all the new MPs know of our interest in waterways in their constituencies, and the MP for Standedge Tunnel (well, Colne Valley actually, but the best bit is Standedge Tunnel) Jason McCartney accepted an invitation to meet us at Marsden, and Huddersfield Canal Society kindly made their tripboat available to transport us from railway station to the tunnel. British Waterways were also very keen to be involved in the meeting, and coffee at the Marsden visitor centre was a useful contribution to the gathering.

During the summer our Branch marquee has also been to York, to Dewsbury, to Skipton, and some of the display materials to the Leeds 3

Waterfront festival, and at the Thwaites Mills part we met two (different) important visitors: the Lord Mayor of Leeds, and the Tom Puddings. At the Brewery Wharf part, where we shared the BW marquee, there was a map showing a disconnected waterway in our region … which was the Pocklington Canal. Of all the cartographically-inclined canal enthusiasts, it is surely only BW who might draw the Pocklington as entirely separate from the main connected waterway system of England and Wales, just because they do not run the intervening connecting waterways. To be churlish, the replacement of the entrance lock gate at Cottingwith in 2007-09 certainly took many more months of waiting for repair than a similar failure on, say, the Calder and Hebble would have done; “funding” said BW, which brings us full-circle to the possible Conservancy-style reorganisation of waterways administration andsome of its potential benefits. http://tinyurl.com/IWconservancy

Branch Publicity Stand Dewsbury A well organised, well attended local festival with a variety of different stalls. As usual we chatted to plenty of people about the waterways including the new local MP, Simon Reevell. We answered questions, gave out leaflets and sold donated items to boost the funds to continue to support the reinstating of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal mile post project.

National Several members made the long journey south! The site team at Beale Park had done a magnificent job getting the ground ready after the bad weather in the preceding days and WRG gave great support to get our stand on site.

We spent an enjoyable weekend promoting the Yorkshire Waterways and the West Riding Branch.

Thanks to all branch members who were involved at the festival, some on the main site team and all who helped and gave support in a variety of ways with the branch stand.

A very successful weekend!

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50 Years Ago The following article appeared in the August 1960 edition of the Inland Waterways Association Bulletin. It was written by the co-founder and Vice President of the IWA Robert Aickman.

In the article Aickman talks about the state of the British transport system and the need for a co-ordinated transport policy in which the waterways could play a part. Not much seems to have changed in the last 50 years !

Robert Aickman.

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The Mile Post.

Is there anyone out there who could help the branch by writing something for inclusion in the Milepost. Have you been on an interesting boating trip? Tell us about it. Is there something waterways related you feel strongly about? Write us a letter about it.. Any amusing stories? Tell us all! E-mail us at boblaing@blueyonder.co.uk , hand it to one of us, or post it to any committee member before the end of December. We look forward to hearing from you.

We would like to give a big thank-you to all the people who have already sent us articles for inclusion in the Mile Post. You have made our job much easier and our magazine more interesting.

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Nursery Rhymes Quiz Answers on page 13 0

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OMHWTTC (TFHPDAB)

1

HDSOAW Humpty Dumpty Sat On A Wall OKCWAMOS

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LBDDLG

2

JAJWUTH

15

DFWTG (IASOR)

3

DDBPITW

16

LBBCBOYH

4

GPPAP (KTGAMTC)

17

LJHSIAC

5

GGGWSIW

18

LMMSOAT

6

RACHTBC

19

MMQCHDYGG

7

OTBMS

20

L B-P H L H S

8

SSMAPGTTF

21

WWWRTTT

9

HDDTMRUTC

22

BBBSHYAW

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LLLHP (KFFI)

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JSCENF (HWCENL)

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LPFSATC

24

OALSTBOSC

12

TWAOWWLIAS

25

TMTMTBAFP

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This reservoir at Foulridge is one of the seven that feeds the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. This is the scene we found on a recent walk around it.

One end of the reservoir has very little water in it . The other end is completely dry with grass and vegetation growing in it.

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Partial Closure of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

After the driest winter and spring for many years, British Waterways announced in July that they were taking the unusual step of partially closing the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The closure of the sixty miles of canal, between lock 85 at Wigan and lock 30 at Gargrave, went ahead at the beginning of August. Although the rest of the canal remains open for navigation, a restricted lock schedule is in place to minimise the impact on neighbouring waterways.

The Leeds and Liverpool canal is fed by seven reservoirs which are at present only at 10 to 12 per cent of their capacity. The feed from all seven reservoirs has been turned off and stop planks have been put in at seven key locations which will protect the long pounds – thus offering better protection for the aquatic ecology and prolonging water levels for moored boats.

Vince Moran, operations director for British Waterways, said: “We’re hopeful that this is a short-term measure and we will be continuing to monitor the reservoir levels on a daily basis. There has been some rainfall in the area, however, this has not been on the scale required. Much more rain is needed to get back to the levels we would normally expect to be at this time of year. We can assure our customers that we will reopen the canal as soon as sufficient water supplies become available. “ Some of the maintenance work on British Waterways Winter Stoppage Programme has been brought forward to take advantage of the closure.

Lock repairs were carried out at Greenberfield, Johnson’s Hillock and Wigan during August.

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The 2010 Festival at Beale Park The 2010 IWA Waterways Festival & Boat Show at Beale Park, Reading, held over 28th to 30th August 2010 was graced with sunny weather and has been acclaimed a great success .

With exhibition boats of all kinds, a flotilla from the Dutch Barge Association and historic craft on the lake it proved a real attraction for the visitors. Pink water zorbing balls were very popular too although people found walking on water was much more difficult than they imagined. The Newfoundland dogs were impressive with their rescue demonstrations while model boat displays, canoeing and historic boat parades completed a very impressive lake entertainment programme.

Elsewhere around the site IWA’s own marquee proved very popular with the wide range of books and maps, the café, and WOW activities including bricklaying with Waterways Recovery Group. Nearly 400 children took part in the WOW activities during the three days and families were commenting that the children didn’t want to leave – even when inducements such as food were offered!

The Kennet & Avon Canal Trust members who were sited at the very popular Historic Wharf were delighted with the response they received from the public and signed up many new members. With 2010 being the 200th Anniversary of the K & A, they were very appropriate occupants for the attraction which was named Barry’s Wharf after a member of the Festivals team who died earlier this year.

With an estimated footfall of nearly 21,000 around the site during the three days, it proved extremely busy and very profitable for the many traders on site.

Visitors were laden with purchases of all kinds, ranging from barbecues, garden furniture, gifts and clothing along with speciality foods. With several of the exhibition boats receiving serious interest from potential purchasers it confirms the Festival as a major venue for boatbuilders.

The coveted Lionel Munk trophy for the best exhibition boat was won by the Navigation Narrowboat Company with “First Dawn”, the first in a new line of shared ownership boats.

403 visiting boats attended, 406 camping units including RV’s, motorhomes, caravans and tents along with 244 exhibitors.

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‘A Warm Welcome!’

The West Riding Branch extends a warm welcome to members who have joined us since the last Mile Post. We look forward to meeting you at one of our monthly meetings or to hearing from you.

*************** Quiz Answers 0-Humpty Dumpty Sat On A Wall 1-Old King Cole Was A Merry Old Soul 2-Jack And Jill Went Up The Hill 3-Ding Dong Bell, Pussy’s In The Well 4-Georgie Porgie Pudding And Pie (Kissed The Girls And Made Them Cry) 5-Goosey Goosey Gander,Whither Shall I Wander?

6-Ride A Cock Horse To Banbury Cross 7-One, Two, Buckle My Shoe 8-Simple Simon Met A Pieman Going To The Fair 9-Hickory Dickory Dock,The Mouse Ran Up The Clock 10-Lucy Locket Lost Her Pocket(Kitty Fisher Found It) 11-Little Polly FlindersSat Among The Cinders ay The Bel 12-There Was An Old WomanWho Lived In A Shoe 13-Old Mother Hubbard Went To The Cupboard (To Fetch Her Poor Dog A Bone) 14-Lavender’s Blue, Dilly Dilly,Lavender’s Green 15-Doctor Foster Went To Gloucester(In A Shower Of Rain) 16-Little Boy Blue,Come Blow On Your Horn 17-Little Jack Horner Sat In A Corner 18-Little Miss Muffet Sat On A Tuffet 19-Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary,How Does Your Garden Grow?

20-Little Bo-Peep Has Lost Her Sheep 21-Wee Willie Winkie Runs Through The Town 22-Baa Baa Black Sheep,Have You Any Wool?

23-Jack Spratt Could Eat No Fat (His Wife Could Eat No Lean) 24-“Oranges And Lemons”Says the bells of Saint Clements 25-To Market, To Market To Buy A Fat Pig 13

Bus Station

LS2 8AY

Train Station

Map showing location of meeting venue Centenary House, North Street, Leeds LS2 8AY 14

Committee Members 2010 / 2011 Chairman Elaine Scott 3 Moorbank Drive Sheffield S10 5TH Home 0114 230 1870

Mile Post Editor Tricia Laing 25 Bankfield Road Shipley BD18 4AJ Home 01274 581800

Secretary Ian Moore 2 Eric Street, Bramley Leeds. LS13 1ET Mobile 07989 112581 E-mail westriding@waterways.org.uk

Committee member Regional Chairman Peter Scott 3 Moorbank Drive Sheffield S10 5TH Home 0114 230 1870 Non Committee Posts

Treasurer William Jowitt Oak Lodge 1 Oakridge Court Bingley BD16 4 TA Home 01274 567950 Membership Secretary Chris Pinder 152 High Street Yeadon Leeds LS19 7AB Home 01132 509371 Minutes Secretary Liz Pinder 152 High Street Yeadon Leeds LS19 7AB Home 01132 509371

Meeting Co-ordinators Katie & Alastair Sayles Home 0113 393 4517 E-mail: kandal@btinternet.com Telephone contact Alistair Furniss Home 0113 253 9401 Northern Rivers Officer (Tyne, Wear & Tees).

John Reeve 10 Perth Grove Stockton-on-Tees Cleveland TS18 5BF Home 01642 580350

Mile Post Editor Bob Laing 25 Bankfield Road Shipley BD18 4AJ Home 01274 581800 E-mail boblaing@blueyonder.co.uk 15

Programme of Events for 2010/11.

All meetings take place at 8.00pm on the second Friday of the month, in the top floor Social Club, Centenary House, North Street, Leeds, LS2 8AY.

8th October 10

Canals of the 60’s by John Greenaway

12th November 10

National Chairman Clive Henderson.

10th December 10

Christmas Social and Members’ slides.

14th January 11

"Canal Engineering and the Great Egg Race"

by Geoff Auty

11th February 11

Chinese Canals by Liam D’Arcy Brown

11th March 11

AGM

8th April 11

RSPB at Fairburn Ings Nature Reserve

by Richard Amende

Talks arranged by Alastair and Katy Sayles, 32 Pymont Drive, Woodlesford, Leeds LS26 8WA. Tel 0113 393 4517 Email: kandal@btinternet.com All the meetings organised by the West Riding Branch are open and everyone is invited. Any member of the general public is allowed to attend and members are invited to bring friends.

The Inland Waterways Association campaigns for the Conservation, Use, Maintenance, Restoration and Development of the Inland Waterways, which are part of our heritage, and are there for the benefit of everyone.

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